NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - What YOU People Don't Realize!

Episode Date: November 15, 2023

In a room full of heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, and Colleen Wolfe preview the Week 11 primetime games. Before the heroes get to the previews, they get you caught up on news from around the league including the season ending injury to Deshaun Watson (07:16), the Bills moving on from OC Ken Dorsey (18:58) and enlighten YOU people on what you may not realize headed into the back half of the season (25:52). The heroes wrap up the show by previewing the Thursday Night Football matchup between the Bengals and Ravens (51:00), the Sunday Night Football meeting between the Vikings and Broncos (01:01:30) and the Monday Night Football game between the Eagles and Chiefs (01:10:28) Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast. He leaves in a thing called love. Just listen to the rhythm of my heart. From the Chris Wessling podcast studio, it's Around the NFL. My name is Dan Hansis. Got a hero here, Greg Rosenthal. Mark Sessler just needs a little bit more time.

He's getting closer to a return. And also joining us, Greg, is The Great. It's Wolf Wednesdays. Colleen Wolf. Hey-yo, what's up? How are we doing? Colleen. I like it.

I like it. Wow, this is amazing. Wow. I'm sure the listeners love this. There's so many white boy overbites right now. I feel it's really high. It's as if this. The John Lovett's character from wedding singers made a song just for your song.

Oh, I love it. He's losing his mind, and I'm reaping all the benefits. All right, that's pretty good. That is John Judkins with a Connie Fox theme song. Oh, my God, John. Crushed it. It's got a little bit of an epic crescendo to it, a little purple rain vibe to it. All right.

All right That's enough of that We told you guys to keep it under 30 seconds Let's check out Let's check out another one Oh my god There's more Hey everybody

It's Colleen Wall Oh This is like a Not like brand new But like a Fallout boy A little bit Oh, that's fun.

And you took the note, too, the 30-second note. That was very nice. That's Shane Burgess with another Colleen theme. Keep them coming, everybody. Because, you know, they call them in all shapes and sizes and tones and feels. And I'm feeling pretty good about both of those. Thank you, Shane and John. I like the electric guitar one.

Like, I walk around my house doing sound drops just of electric guitars a lot, like singing to my dogs. about yourself. No, it's usually songs about the dogs. Introducing yourself to the room. Hello, dogs, I'm home. Coming up next, breakfast. So here we are. We got the trio here.

Ow! Well, I think that's Mark's Levi theme song, isn't it? They're all just labeled guitar riff, so sometimes they get mixed up, you know. Lots of guitar riffs in here. That could be an or you kidding me riff. There's a lot. There are a lot of layers and a lot of,

the history is, Rich, as Colleen once famously said, on public access, Philadelphia area. Visit the Poconos. Got to hit those golf courses and the Poconos whenever you can. This is the Wednesday edition of around the NFL hump day. Greg, you share with this privately that Hump Day can sometimes be challenging for you. Well, you were trying to say that I wasn't trying to say any vibe to me today. And I'm saying, yeah, this is like a low energy. It's a it's an ebb. day. Colleen,

A little bit of a different vibe like today. A little bit of a different vibe because he's saying that he's low energy but he has been a little bit of an overachiever if you ask me already today.

He's taking initiative. He's being proactive. There was some on our messaging client you were doing some things asking of things you usually don't ask for. Then we had a lighting issue in the studio and Greg hopped up and started hitting buttons trying to get the lighting turned out.

They showed me how to do the lighting for Monday night. He sent out a... Power on. He sent out an inter-office memo about something, just getting his hands around another end of our enterprise. You've been active. He's gilk. He's morphing into his old, like, boss self.

I mean, it's always there. I keep it under wraps, but it's always there. Okay. Just think easy, bud. Everything's under control. Everything's good. Dan's offended that I asked for a news drop, apparently. We just don't normally do news on Wednesday, and we got news.

So I said we need a news drop. That's all. I think it's a good look It was outside your purview Typical purview, that's all And I wasn't offended by it But I clocked it It was like, that's a little different

And then I get here And you're a whole different person You're all over the place today That's good You want to be unpredictable And like, you are He's a wild card Coming up a little bit later today

And yes, because we have a little bit of a different Greg today I'm excited to see what he comes up with When we talk about what you people don't realize in the NFL right now as we are now heading headlong into the second half of the regular season we also will hit some of the primetime previews

the island games Connie of course the face and the anchor get a tight shot of this one she's got the library look going on today I have my glasses on my airs up this is the face of it's raining outside Thursday night football coverage for NFL network the robo cans moving in

I see the Robocam moving. Oh, my God, wow. I've seen like, I don't know, five of these in 10 years I've worked here. All right. So we'll talk Thursday night football. We'll talk Sunday night football, Monday night football. But first, yes, we got a little bit of housekeeping in the news, big news, actually. Here's what I would say for, because I tell my family this, just wear a diaper before some of these games.

And I'll give them an alert and be ready to roll. I love it. You know, that is from 97-1, the ticket. That is, of course, Dan Campbell. And I could give you some context on why he's saying that, but I choose not to. Just know that he suggests that his family wears a diaper for games. Yeah, that games are crazy.

And, you know, you... He should get a depends sponsorship. You might be your pants. See, I wasn't going to give the context. Greg jumped in. I mean, what is the context? Again, you don't need any context. I didn't have any.

Initiative, Greg. He's on fire today. I'm going to go poop. what is that from some of these you just sit on and you sit on and you wait that was from it was a poop or pop over summer or preseason you could never have picked a better moment to use it that was sometimes you just holster them i may never play it again but that was you can leave the studio because you're not going to beat what you just did there let's get to the news uh you know who's pooping their pants and fear the Cleveland Browns because uh the quarterback that they

mortgage their future for and a lot more than just their future is out for the season. Deshaun Watson needs shoulder surgery after sustaining an injury against the Ravens and that dramatic comeback win. I have a missive to share from the Ravens from the Browns on Watson's injury. Deshawn Watson underwent magnetic resonance imaging Open parenthetical MRI Close parenthetical Monday on two injuries sustained on different plays In the first half of Sunday's 3331 win over the Baltimore Ravens

Imaging on his left ankle revealed a high ankle sprain In addition post game Deshawn notified our medical staff Of a new discomfort in his right shoulder that he felt after a hit in the first half An MRI that is a magnetic resonance imaging They didn't add it again, but it's funny he did the first time. Of his right shoulder revealed a displace fractured to the glenoid, despite performing

at a high level and finishing the game after consultation with Brown's head physician James Vooz, MD, and industry leading shoulder specialist, Neil Eletratch, MD, it had been determined that his, I'm still reading, by the way, that this injury will require immediate surgical repair to avoid further

structural damage. Deshawn will be placed on season-ending injured reserve and a full recovery is expected for the start of the 2024 season. They need an editor. Greg, disastrous for the Browns. Their playoff hopes for the first 40% of this five, unprecedented five year contract.

And a little bit as has been the case really throughout this saga around Watson, even just within the prism of this year alone, a little bit weird. That statement anyway. The statement was weird. All the insistence and conversation. from all the reporters who were carrying the water for Watson last year, just pointing out how he played through pain

and all the details of this injury and really, like, loading it up to the point of like that we don't normally get. And I don't know, I just don't know why, because no one's doubting that he's hurt. No one would doubt that he wants to play football and that this injury is a real thing. But it just felt like it's pushing this whole explanation out there because I think there's some sensitivity to why,

happened over the last month when he was off and on the field in terms of his injury. And there's so much sensitivity that you hear it from the reporters. You hear it from Andrew Barry. You hear it in the statement. And it all doesn't matter because you feel for this team. And it's obviously an unfortunate turn for Watson himself who can't stay on the field, whether it's because of his sexual assault or whether it's because of injuries he hasn't been able to play for the Cleveland Browns.

and they're stuck in a really tough spot where they have the best defense in the league in my mind and a offense that's overcome a lot of injuries, and I just don't see that they have that much of a future at 6 and 3. Ruins a great season. Yeah, it's such a bummer because that division is so good, and even with the Bengals at whatever they are right now, approaching 5 and 5, which feels weird

and outside of the playoff picture in general. But it's just such a competitive division, and we knew down the stretch that all of the. teams within that division would be beating each other up and whatever you think about the Steelers, if you buy into them or not, like now the Browns are essentially mirroring the Steelers because they have a good defense and the offense is not going to be what's winning them games. And right now it wasn't to begin with with Watson on the field. But as you said, they've overcome a lot throughout the season thus far. And now they face the Steelers coming up on Sunday. Both

teams are six and three and a half game behind the Ravens and they have Doyle Thompson Robinson starting and after that it'll be PJ Walker. So it is just such a bummer because Jim, Jim Schwartz came in and did such a good job with this defense and Miles Garrett is having a defensive player of the year type season. And usually those awards are given out to teams that make it very far. And I don't know what happens from here on out now for the Browns. The decision to start DTR is pretty surprising and and compelling. He struggled big time in that one

start he had. He was a compelling decision to make after how much he struggled in that. There's a lot about PJ Walker also. Fair. And look, their seasons not over. They've won games with PJ Walker. They've beaten good teams with PJ Walker. Yeah, they're not they're done though. They're not going to win a Super Bowl. They thought they probably could with Sean Watson. If he was healthy, it's a cry. They don't have Nick Chubb, of course, who had a second knee surgery

this week. They could make the play. They could make the playoffs though and sure and we'll get into there's some a fc talk we're going to talk about later in the show there a major sliding hold on that major she she's going to share some more uh give us a little more detail on the the brown statement in a moment but a major turns out and who would have ever predicted a major sliding doors moment of the NFL season now is at the eve of uh end of training camp sending joshua dobbs out of that building to the cardinals for like a day three draft pick um they would have had a a really interesting backup, and they moved him because they thought they were set at the position. And they are not set at the position. Here's Deshaun Watson. By the way, some of the reporting out there that felt like a little like eyebrow, askew, almost melodramatic. Here's a report from our own Tom Pelliserro.

The doctors were clear to Deshaun Watson. If he were to get hit again in the same spot, the shoulder could fall apart. Okay. Okay, here is Dachan Watson himself speaking to the media. Yeah, I'm still in disbelief. I'm still, as I said, just trying to process all the information that I've been getting since last night. It's tough. You know, I felt like we were turning the corner to really make a run.

And, you know, I still believe we still will, you know, with the guys in this locker room. You know, I just wanted to be physically a part of it. I'm on the field with those guys. and you know six weeks i was down and try to come back and two weeks later i'm you know back out it again so yes it's it's tough to try to you know wrap everything around my hair i know here's here's who i feel the worst about is is is for browns fans um because i i can relate to this and it's like you every time it feels like something good is happening something terrible happens and they and browns fans got pulled into this whole watson saga they didn't have any control over

that and they have this incredible win over the ravens uh where they come back and it's this hated team from baltimore that took the original browns and you don't even get to savor that and look ahead all of a sudden you get this news on watson so it's a it's a real bummer for cleveland a franchise that it's probably just like what did we do in another life right and and miles garrett and And Dalvin Tomlinson and Zadarias, you don't have to have been there a long time. Denzo Ward, like those guys, this was, I think, the best Browns team we've seen. I know the offense was better in that one year with Baker, but this had a chance. And we saw it in the second half.

And Browns fans are going to be able to hold on to that second half of that game or Watson hit those passes. But even then, it was more about these schemed up, very Baker-like, throws, quick throws to guys that were open, Stefanski, I think was doing a great coaching job. Their offensive line who was really injured is playing well. well too. And you still don't know what you have in Watson. And here's the thing with how Watson's played this year. It's going to, I'm already tired of how it's going to be like legislated over the offseason and stuff. Because it was mediocre. In the last two weeks, there were, there were definitely

signs of life. Over the last two weeks, for PFF had him graded as the number 16 quarterback out of 34 qualifiers, which was an upgrade. Like, he looked better. He had some good moments, some good deep throws two weeks ago. Certainly made the winning plays that he needed to. But on balance, he started almost a full season for the Browns now, 13 games, and he's been mediocre at best. Oh, yeah. And the injury is really important to clock, too, because I think the Browns fans will think, like,

okay, we'll get him back. He's guaranteed over $60 million the next three years or whatever guaranteed each of those years. He's our quarterback and he will be fine, but they would have never have made this trade with the information that they have now. Number one, that he was going to miss as much time, as he did last year, and number two, that he's now coming off a serious shoulder injury.

So there are legitimate concerns that, A, he wasn't the same player to begin with, and B, he's now coming off of a serious injury, and he's, has, you know, the best contract in the history of the sport, way less flexible than a Mahomes or Josh Allen or any of those guys. Yeah, and it's interesting that the Browns, they traded Josh Dobbs to the Cardinals, and now look what Josh Dobbs is doing for the Vikings. So they could have been in the situation where Josh Dobbs could be starting. They could have last week, though.

And I never mentioned it on this show. Or maybe I did. I can't remember. But Dobbs said on his own podcast. He has a podcast, by the way. He's got it all. He's a rock guy. He's got a podcast with Trace Smith,

who's an offensive lineman on the Chiefs. Random. Interesting. And on that podcast, he mentioned, right after Jonathan Gannon and the Cardinals coach told him that he wasn't going to be traded, that almost immediately, afterwards his agent said

you're going to be traded it was that money that again and lied to you basically and you're going to be traded and this is last week to the Vikings or the Browns and so that the Browns I don't you can't know but you would think that the agent at that point

knew there was some level of interest from the Browns and potentially bringing him back that didn't happen and it's just a funny it's crazy initiative Greg were you listening to the Josh Dobbs and Chiefs Lineman podcast? No but they How does he do it? How does he have the time?

It was tweeted out last Friday. And I was like, well, this is interesting. I did listen to it to see what was going on. Initiative Greg. Oh, my God. In the way home. Kevin Cole, who is. Kevin Cobb?

Formerly with PFF now with unexpected points. Had this tweet for 12 games of bottom 10 QB play. The Browns have already paid to Sean Watson over $90 million. They owe him another fully guaranteed $46 million per year through 2026, and this cap hit the next three seasons is 64 million per year. Sorry, I should have said, yeah, that was the cap hit that was six. Also, just wanted to add a little context to the displaced fracture and is right glenoid. Give me a little glenoid heat.

So just a quick Google search here. Greg already knows it, but you tell the people too. Yeah, he took the initiative already to Google it. The glenoid cavity is a shallow oceus element that is structurally deepened by fibro cartilogen RIM. That's pretty good. The glenoid labrum that spans the Oseus periphery of the vault. That's a sentence.

That's just one sentence. So I could go on, but I won't. I have no idea. I'm not giving up on this Browns team. I still think they could win. I think they could hold that thought for later. Because it connects to something that I agree with. But it's a crusher.

You know, a crusher also for Ken Dorsey, who took over for Brian Dable. as the offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills, probably one of the best jobs in the sport from that position because of Josh Allen and the amount of talent on that team and a real springboard, like for it was for Dable, for Dorsey.

Unfortunately, it did not work out that way. The bills, after a bitterly disappointing Monday night loss to the Broncos, which we, Greg and I talked about, in depth on our previous show, fired Dorsey on Tuesday. the team announced. Quarterbacks coach Joe Brady will take over as the interim OC. Here is McDermott on the decision.

Just felt like it was time for change. You know, we need to be a confident offensive football team and find consistent production. And that's really where it came down to. Connie, here's what is a little bit weird about this. A lot. And maybe Dorsey didn't gel with Allen in the offense the way Daibald did. Okay.

And that's fine. there are a lot of factors it's not just the coach and he was alan's the scheme choice very close with yes he loved the move to to promote him the the reason they blew that game on monday had nothing to do in my opinion with the scheme it was sloppy ball handling uh it was a penalty at the end of the game it was in general the skill players at running back and a quarterback uh not getting the job done um and it's weird to me that and i understand why because this is how the sport works. You find someone to pin it on and then you try to pivot and get some new momentum in your season. But it does, it rings untrue firing them off this game when I don't think it was

the scheme that that sunk the bills. In fact, they had two like incredibly impressive drives in this game that reminded you that that's in them. Yeah. And I wonder to myself if there weren't too many men on the field at the end of that game and the bills came away with a win. Ken Dorsey still has a job. I think last year he led this offense. They were the second ranked in total offense and points per game like he still has the ability to do that but they just haven't been

able to put it all together and obviously there's a discipline thing with the bad decisions and the turnovers and the too many men on the field at the end but this clearly is it has been a slow burn because there's no other reason

that this should have happened for Ken Dorsey but they needed a fall guy. They needed to blame someone, the starts for the offense for the bills have been really slow this season. Their points, when you look at, I kind of think of the bills from week one to week five, because week five is when I believe Treya Davies White went down. And then week six was when they were in London and lost Matt Milano and Dequan Jones. And so they are a different team since then with the injuries. And so I think since week five, they're points per game in the first half are almost 50% fewer.

And it's just the offense does, it looks disjointed. You have Trayvon Diggs, Stefan's brother tweeting stuff about it's, it's Josh Allen's fault. I'll pipe down, Trayvon. I mean, but clearly he's hearing stuff from Stefan and we know that all of the things that happened in last year, the frustration with Stefan Diggs when he left that playoff game, walked out of the locker room. They had to come and bring them back in because. because McDermott wanted to address the team.

Like, it's just, it's not, they're not a great team right now. McDermott just seems so tight, you know? Yeah. And he was telegraphing this a little bit by down talking, Dorsey, you know, politely, publicly, publicly before, before this week that he wasn't happy, like that they needed to run the ball more.

But like, it is something where it feels like they're a disaster. But the numbers, for instance, would completely disagree that they're literally first in the NFL still in success rate. like third in DVOA, third and EPA per play. They just turn the third in red zone efficiency. They just turn the ball over like crazy. And it's not like he's calling the fumble play. No, and a lot of the like Allen turnovers are on bad decisions by the

quarterback rather than scheme deficient. Even those I feel like they've been in such big spots that there hasn't been that many. You'll have nights like the other night, which are mystifying where Gabe Davis has a drop. That's an interception. And then like Alan just drops the ball while he's handing. to the running back. There's been like a weird amount of like those like

mystifying type of place. The throw by Allen at the end of the first half just a terrible decision. He had an interception that just got called back because the guy's toe was on the line. But he could have had a whole not interception.

Here's the thing though when I thought now that we've had a day to think about it, Ken Dorsey's been in that building for five years. He was the QB coach. Josh Allen's worked with him that long. Sean McDermott hired him.

He's worked with him that long. Like these are humans that are interactive on a very intense level on a day-to-day basis at a very high-stress job and I think that's a lot of times more of the answer with stuff like this than anything that would show up in DVOA

that these two humans and it's McDermott's call he didn't want to work with Kendorsi anymore he told us because he fired him he just didn't want to work with him I don't know what the reason there could be a myriad of not personal but like reasons that don't show up

in just like how he's calling the place There could be a lot of reasons for that. I don't know what they are, but McDermott wanted him gone. Like, maybe he didn't want to hire him in the first place. The idea was Josh Allen kind of pushed that, you know, very hard, that that was his pick. He really wanted his Keeby coach to be a guy. For whatever reason, like, they know each other about as well as you could, you know, being in that building that long together.

And he just, he didn't want him anymore. He had another guy, Joe Brady, that he wanted more for whatever reason. And he knows, maybe a little like Frank, right? We talked about the other night. Like, I don't know if I feel that comfortable in my job, Sean McDermott, even though I got an extension. And I really feel strongly I want to go out this way or not go out at all. I talked to Omar Ruiz after the game because he was up there for it.

And he said after the game that Ken Dorsey, he saw him walking out of the building and that he looked so despondent and disheveled. And that Omar just kind of knew at that point that something was up. Oh, interesting. Hmm. Bet you didn't know that, Greg. Actually, me and Omar, we're on a conference call this morning. This is a debriefing.

I do it with all the reporters. Just so that I... Like minority report with the big screen? I've actually got to go soon. I've got a call with Stacy Dales in 10 minutes. All right there. Let's take a break. And then we will talk about what you people do not realize.

All right. Welcome back. Yes, yes, yes. Everyone thinks they know what's going on in our league. But you want to know the truth? A lot of people don't know shit. A lot of people think they know what's going on. Greg.

Okay. That's fired. But, Colleen, they don't. Uh-uh. No, and that's why we're providing a service. Would you like to kick off this segment called what you people don't realize. I would love to.

Thank you very much. All right. So everyone's talking about CJ Stroud right now and rightfully so. He's getting a ton of hype and he deserves it all. But what you people don't realize

is how impressive Sam Howell has been. CJ Stroud, let's just talk about it if we compare their numbers. So CJ Stroud 22 years old at this point. He's passed for, 2,600 yards, 15 touchdowns. He has one fourth quarter

comeback and two game winning drives. Incredible. He's been awesome. He's even been thrown into not just offensive rookie of the year, but MVP. Sam Howell, one year older, 23 years old. He's leading the league

with 2,800 yards, 17 touchdowns, two fourth quarter comebacks, two game winning drives, And he's doing it behind the worst offensive line in all of football. He was a fifth round pick last year. I consider this season his actual rookie year. So if we're talking about rookie quarterbacks.

He only made one start last year in week 18. Yeah. So it doesn't really count. And in the off season, I felt like everyone was like Sam Howl. Like what? What are we doing here? And clearly they saw this talent. Now the team isn't really going anywhere this season.

but they have a nice piece at the quarterback position. I think about what Ron Rivera said right before the season started. We talked about it on the show, I remember. They said, if I would have realized what we actually had on our hands with Sam Howell last season, he would have been playing way before he did. And then, you know, sometimes a lot of times, almost all the time, let's be honest. That's coach speak and it's hollow.

And then the player comes out and he plays like, you know, Desmond Ritter or 100 other kind of mid-round or late-round draft picks that teams pump up and then reality strikes. But in this case, Gregie, Hal has gone out there, and Connie's right. I don't think people have been tracking because Washington just kind of lays in the weeds as an organization. And they've on balance had a very typical Washington year where they're just kind of in the middle, not bad, not good. But he has been very productive. And counting stats are counting stats.

And they don't like, for instance, the game winning drives for Stroud are way more memorable and impactful than howls, which I don't even recall at the top of my head. And yet, and yet he needs to be credited and observed in a way that's way more fawning and closer to Stroud. Closer. Closer, not at the same level. Right. Okay. And he did have that year. I hear what you're saying.

This is his rookie year. It feels like it. But I think it's a big advantage to have that year going through an NFL season and learning how to be a pro and all that stuff. But you're absolutely right. He leads the NFL in. plenty of stats because he leads the NFL in attempts and you can say, okay, that's why he leads the NFL in yards. Yeah, but he's also leading the league in attempts by 70. So they put a ton, and now part of that is they had not their buy yet, but even attempts per game, he's well ahead

of anyone else. The next closest guys are Allen and Burrow and Mahomes. It's like guys, you can build an offense around. So they've put a lot on his plate and it's led to some mistakes. no doubt, but he's also handled it really well for a second year player. He is the leader, according to PFF, in big time throws this season. Wow. And he's also right up there in turnover worthy plays. I think he's fifth. So that makes sense to me too.

Like he's made some big mistakes, but he can play, man. I'm with you. Not enough people have been really recognizing that at the least. He's going to be part of this show, Dan. God willing for us God will for the next you know

bless up you know me save it for the theology pod gas but me and God initiative Greg's been going to church I haven't

I haven't believed in him but he believes in me just pouring through that old test he goes to every service he's going to be in this show for the next eight to ten years I just feel like it like we're like

I don't know what team I don't know how he's going to be exactly but he's just going to be and even beyond that backhanded compliment that the show kind of gives out it's like an ATN trope oh yeah he's play he's going to be in the league for a bunch of years

there's a backup. It's like, no, no, no, no. There's a chance that he is a, I'll call it a mainstream starter. Yeah, like a more exciting Tanna Hill, but someone that's just Tanna Hill's been in the mix the whole time. And he's been sacked 47 times this season. It's not even close, too.

The next most sacked quarterback is Zach Wilson at 33. And he needs, and that's partly or even mainly on howl. He has to clean that up too. Right. But because he's going to get himself hurt. Like, that's the thing. and if he gets one more hit, his shoulder will actually explode and go into outer space, says the reporting. He's got to watch the glenoid.

And he's been improving. I think the last two weeks against the Patriots, actually three weeks, Eagles, Patriots, Seahawks, he's played smarter. So that's good. You know, like you said, a first time starter. I think he's showing progress as he goes. He's getting better.

All right. Good start. Good job, Colin. Way to get the segment off on the right thing. You understood the assignment. Guess what? I did it. I'm making strides, I think.

Last time we did a segment with you, you did something that was kind of mathematically impossible when you forked an entire division. So this is big time progress. Was I wrong? It's held up pretty well. I'm ready to fork the NFC South. I love that. Well, we can't, though. Somebody will be in the playoffs unless we can push a rule through.

I'm an innovator. I like it. I've always thought that. All right. But you guys are in over your heads because what you both in here and out there, people don't realize. There's no good teams in the AFC. Zero. Okay.

I want you to pull up. This is a galaxy train talk. No. I don't realize this. Pull up the conference standings and just start throw out some teams each of you. It's insane. The parody. Throw out a team.

Go ahead. And I'm going to give you for each team you throw out a three word explanation that explains why they're actually not good. The defending Super Bowl champion with the defending MVP, Kansas City Chiefs. Three words. And Jackson, as in Taylor Swift and Jackson, Mahomes, upgrades over their current skill players. Next. Wow.

Okay. The Ravens. Talk your shit. Talk your shit. Yeah. Ravens. Three words. Even Greg knows.

What else? What? I don't know. Just to, you know. Keep going. Just to put a nice meatball over the plate here. How about the Buffalo Bills? 12 seconds curse.

Ooh, Jaguars. Yeah. What else he got? Now you're making Eric work harder. Keep going. What do you got? Texans. Texans? Nice recency bias.

What else? Dolphins. Dolphins. Classic bully behavior. Oh, yeah. Your team that you promised you would lock up every week

despite them giving you two lock losses in a row, one when you picked against them, one when you picked for them. The Cincinnati Bengals. They keep losing. Okay. Well, that's... Dolphins?

Okay. I said dolphins. Can't be. Yeah. Steelers, smoke and mirrors. Browns, Dorian Thompson, Robinson. What's the Dolphins one? Classic bully behavior. They beat up on the fat kid on the playground

and then get pummeled by the strong. I mean, did you even, I wonder if you even wrote down the Los Angeles Chargers. No, they're not even on, they're not even on this list. All right, it's got to be the Chargers here. I hear what you're saying. Like, everyone's got flaws. but there was there was a podcast we did around week nine or 10 last year where the title

for the recap was week like week nine recap are there any good teams and it's like this happens in the middle of this no but this year's teams have flaws and then by the end of the year those teams felt very top heavy connecting to like the brown stock from earlier in the show I think the browns obviously took a fatal blow to their Super Bowl hopes with the news today but I think because of the nature of the conference yes there's absolutely a path to 10 wins and there's a path to making a little noise in the playoff and there is a path to hope because this is a conference that just does not have any teams where I look at it and I go okay I absolutely trust you the chiefs are the

closest one because of their pedigree but the all the data that's staring us in the face and the eye test that's staring back at us when we watch their offense tells us they're trying to figure things out and haven't been able to in half a season I think that's what makes it more exciting this year that all of the parody and because it doesn't seem like there is a specific top tier. I mean, I think that the Chiefs and the Ravens are still up there, but there's not like some significant drop off because everyone has had these like insane games, terrible losses, like weird upsets.

And I was actually thinking about you this morning about the AFC and how thinking about you. Thinking about how happy you must be that you're not doing power rankings this year. Oh, what a nightmare. I couldn't even imagine. And just to elaborate, even Greg knows for the Ravens, you know what's going to happen to them. They're going to get picked off in the playoffs

in a horrific way. It's just going to happen. I think this might be their year. Hey, Eric, Doc, like, log this. So when they have an almost like unbelievable playoff loss where they just like kick away. I mean, that happens to every team.

Eric doesn't have anything else going on right now. That's something else to his play. A specific type of loss, a Ravensie loss. Oh. Okay. All right. Go ahead. I mean, you're talking about the AFC.

Uh-huh. But what you, Philadelphia people. Ooh. Oh, this is a shot from earlier. See, you came after him early, and this is a Greg move. I was ready for it.

And he said, okay, now I'm coming out. I've been picking this team every week since the start of last season. But what I've started to realize and what you, you know, philandering. Ooh. Fanny pack wearing. Oh, the diagonal fannies are fun.

Boneheads don't realize is that the Eagles defense, especially their cornerbacks, are a problem. That they're not even good right now. The ones that are healthy are not playing well. They are 19th overall in EPA this year. Their defense. They are 22nd in past defense according to DVOA. And you say, oh, they're injured in the middle. Last year, I went to the PFF rankings.

their top three cornerbacks. Slay, Bradbury, Avanti Maddox, who's out for the year, all top 30 out of the qualifiers. That's out of 150. This year, Slay, he's been okay. 59. That's your lead guy.

Bradbury, we gave him a ton of money. He hasn't exactly shaken off that penalty he had in the Super Bowl. He's been struggling 87th. Anyone else on the list that you put in the middle that they've tried out, Josh Job or Eli Ricks or whoever has been out there, Bradley Robey, the street they're just buried they're so low they basically don't compute but they're at the very

bottom they can't cover right now on the outside and you don't realize it Connie so are you picking against the Eagles this week I am wow for the first time I am I mean they're playing the chiefs on the road I don't remember you doing that I have not picked against the chiefs I mean against the Eagles and I still think they can win the Super Bowl but this defense I just think they haven't played the right opponent to like expose it necessarily, but the defense has been it's left me wanting and especially the past defense.

I don't want. I don't love this vibe, but I see it. I understand it. They also have a new defensive coordinator this year. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but you're right. The back end has not been as good. They still have

a great pass rush. Looking at the sacks that they have so far the season, I know it's not all about sacks, but they have 30 sacks so far the season. Through nine games last year, they had 29. It's everything else. Even the linebackers who actually grade out decently well and I think they've been coached up pretty well this year. They're

not as good as the linebackers from a year ago, Edwards, and White. So I'm going to, let's look at the ages here. That's what I'm going to do. All right. Kevin Byard born a long time ago. Born is not an age. 1847. Darius Slay, born in

91. Too long ago. 32 years old. James Bradbury, if you were born when I was in high school, it's a problem, 93, 30 years old. Kevin Byard, he's in his 30s. I'm just, it's just like an aging. They're all kind of getting worse at the same time. Oh, God, and the chief defense is really good right now. So I don't love that.

But we'll talk more about that in the preview. Yeah, I know. I thought I would be stepping on it. This was the one I felt strongest. And we all know, the Eagles nearly won in last year. Super Bowl or bust. And in terms of the top offenses in football, you got the dolphins and the AFC, but then you got the cowboys you got detroit you got san francisco you got to get through the playoffs and if you

have some of these high octane passing games be careful connie careful i'm ready for it be careful okay you're up give us another one okay um let's see here i didn't i thought you aren't you up not no i go second you want me to go you want to i can go always go back to is that a thing no i'm mixing it up just mixing it up okay um here we go pressure please start talking. Here we go. People are listening. Tens of thousands.

I have a few different ones, but I, what you people don't realize and maybe, maybe some do, but at this point, she's qualifying. What you people don't realize is how close the Bengals are to actually missing the playoffs.

Oh, that's a good one. Hang on. That's a good one. They right now are on the outside looking in. They lost their head to head against all AFC wildcard teams that are in it right now.

And then they're 0 and 2 in the division. They're 1 and 4 in the conference. And they have the most difficult remaining strength of schedule in the entire league. Really? Even more than the bills? Yeah. Wow. That is, well, they play.

That was a good one. I didn't realize all that. Yeah. You had a bunch you could have chosen and they all would have been inferior to that one. So you've done it. You know what? Assignment understood. I did see ESPN sent out that thing where they have playoff odds, right? And they lowered the Browns' playoff odds as of, you know, the Watson injury.

And they were showing how other teams increased. Yeah. And it showed how the Bengals increased from like 33 to 36%. And I was like, one in three chance. What? Now, part of that is they're baking in some of the bad offensive stats that happened when Burrow was injured. So I don't think that's totally accurate.

But, you know, they're an underdog this week. And then they would be five and five. Wow. Here's the thing. It's a great one, Connie. they put themselves in a hole and it wasn't all their fault the quarterback was not healthy but when you lose three or four to start the season you got a lot of work to do and they won four in a row but that was a very i mean that drop i want to talk about sliding doors the tyler boy drop we don't

know if they would have hung on for the win but if they missed the playoffs remember that and now you have a huge game on thursday i have i have something to say about the tyler boyd drop you want to you want to save that for the preview i will holster that one holster that one because what you're you You people don't realize. And it astounds me that you wouldn't even think of this because you do this for a living. And it's like, don't you see anything besides what's right in front of you? Like, how do I even work this way? We could be looking at a historic bloodbath on Black Monday.

Here are coaches that you could say are in some level of peril. from incredible peril to sneaky parol. Okay. Sneaky peril. Hey, I got to have a side of peril. All right, and let's start with the name that already came up. Sean McDermott.

Okay. I got it out. Did sign an extension before the season, but a little bit of peril. Bob Sala. A little bit of peril. A little eye on it. I don't think so. That's tough with Aaron Rogers.

Just keep an eye on it. I don't know what I'm hearing right now. I'm not sure about it. It's not just the coaches. You know, it's the team coaches. Okay. Go ahead. The families.

Yep. It's Ricky. But I don't care. Who's wanting to finish his second semester at Lincoln Middle School. Aren't their contracts guaranteed? They're still getting paid? Sure, but you're going to have to move. Not the assistance.

No, they're not the assistants. I don't care. Bill Belichick. Okay. Can we believe it? Brandon Staley. Okay. Ron Rivera.

Okay. Brian Daebel? I don't think so, but okay. You know, sneaky peril. Matt Lafleur? Mm. Matt Eberflus? Dennis Allen?

Todd Bowles? Arthur Smith. Frank Reich. M. F. South clean sweep of hot butts, melting butts, an entire division? Melt it down. Someone will win the division and then be safe, but yes.

And I'll throw in the Cardinals head coach. Gannon? Gannon. No way. Oh, I don't trust that organization. How about that? That's a lot of names. And that is 13 coaches.

And it typically is between 6 and 8. every year. That's 13, and it would not surprise me if at least eight go and maybe double digits. And you're not even including McDaniels, who's already gone. And Pierce's, Antonio Pierce, the interim coach actually feels like he has a chance to potentially win that job. I hope so. But that could be another one that changes hands again, too.

I saw this stat this morning in their past 20 games that Dayball and Reich have the same record for 15 and 1, including the playoffs. yeah that's rough wait dable yeah because they ended last year poorly yeah so last 20 games they did they did windows that's kind of butternifing the that is using the stats to tell a story tell your own story but dable did yeah dable did have a great first year in fact he's the reigning coach of the year so he's i would say of the list of the the the ones i would say are the safest I mean, I was going to say McDermott, but they missed the playoffs. No, I think he's pretty.

He's probably safe, but McDermott, Dable, Dable, probably, probably. And then Gannon is, is more just. I think Gannon's, he's probably safe. But all those other guys, I think, are, they really need to not crater. And you're right. There's always a surprise that you don't see coming that might not even be on that list or maybe was one of the ones we just said we're safe. It makes a lot of sense.

All right. Gregie. And no, I don't endorse being fired in any way. No. This is their livelihood. But this is our job. And people should respect that as well. Yeah.

And what people don't respect is sometimes the tape. They just get their takes from the takesmen. The takes. I walked through the newsroom and I see ridiculous lower thirds on various takes shows. He's talking with just ridiculous things. Am I hosting this show? I was thinking more Fox, actually, Fox Sports. There was one yesterday that's.

said like, is Deshawn Watson's contract not a bad thing? It was something just stupid. I don't remember it was. It was a dumb thing. Okay. The day later doesn't look good. Um, but what these totally irrelevant ignominious ignoramus is don't realize.

With initiative. Double I, triple I. Is that Jordan Love's been turning the corner the last couple weeks. I mean, this is not the largest hill that I'm going to die on. It's a small hill, but it's the Jordan love has improved. over the last two weeks, and I hope it's a start of something.

I think it's two best games of the season have been in a row, and this last one in particular was the Jordan Love I was hoping to see coming into the season, which is yes, a couple plays you would have liked to talk to him, but what were you thinking there? But also four to five beautiful big time throws. And it goes to show you when you get a little bit of pass protection, you can play football at a much higher level. And he's gotten protected the last couple weeks.

I think you've seen good decision making, good throws, and maybe it's not too late to turn this battleship around and have a positive first full season as a starter. Five big time throws last week. A lot of plays down the field. Sometimes his teammates left him let him down a little bit, and I thought he played well the week before, too. So it's something. It's a start. But the people aren't watching. You're not telling you.

You know what? Because the Packers are three and six. No, I get it. The book's been written. on him, but this is what happened. The book should not be written on it because he is, you know, not even, you know, Sam Howell, we're talking about it as he, should he be viewed as a rookie?

Jordan Love, this is his first real season. And, and look at Aaron Rogers. Look at Aaron Rogers's first year with the Packers. He started out with a lot of potential, obviously, but he wasn't winning MVP's immediately. It took years, it took a year for him to, you know, cook and develop. So Packers fans aren't used to this. Yeah. And we're not used to. The public's not

used to the Packers being close to irrelevant before Thanksgiving, but they are on a whole different track right now, which is developing a young quarterback and there's growing pains there. I would love for Justin or for Jordan love to be on the same page as Christian Watson again the season. It just feels like there's a massive disconnect there. They're trying. It's just not I picked off in the end zone. I feel like playing with Aaron Rogers, uh, who is able to accentuate what Watson does well is going to make like how people look at the rest of the rest of the of Watson's time may be unrealistic. Right now, you're right.

He's not one of the best two or three ride receivers on that team. It's a little worrisome. All right. That was a good app. I thought it was a good sag of what you people don't realize because I think we help people.

We made them realize it. I'm great about that seg. Let me hear the short Connie song again. It's got like a blink 182, late 90s vibe, maybe. Fallout boy. Yellow card, right? Let me a little less than Jake.

Yeah, that's what I was doing. I couldn't think of the name. It's Colleen Wolfe. This is when I was skateboarding. Surfing. Yeah. Parasailing, hand gliding. Skydiving.

Just all extreme sports by the sea. Yeah. I could see it. Did you ever own a pair of airwarks? Oh my God, I had a brown pair. Yeah, so did I. I had like the bowling shoe. Stozy shirts.

Giant pants. How big were the pants with the airwarks? They were huge. They were like James Harden a couple years ago. If you remember what he showed up at the game wearing. We had our conversation about the ruffians connected to your school. They were called the skids as I brought up. You wore airwarks if you were a skid.

Yeah. I was friends with the skids. Yeah, like the skaters and stuff like that. Yeah. Although putting the skaters in the same category as the skids is unfair. The skids were more like, I'm going to win. wear a Metallica shirt every day and throw snowballs at the

underclassmen. Whereas the skaters were more just like, you know what the skaters were doing. I was friends with the skaters. Yeah, they were less aggressive, put it that way. They were a little more docile for whatever reason. I don't know why. Colleen very docile. Let's get into

the primetime games. We got two corkers, two of the games of the year so far. All right, let's start with a great one on Thursday night football. We've been talking about Cincinnati and how close they are. Connie pointed out rightly to being in serious peril themselves of missing the playoffs, which would be like the bills, an absolute travesty for their fans because this team is expected to go all the way by many. And yet here they are at five

and four coming off a crushing last second loss of the Texans. And now they get the Ravens at home. And Connie, this is on Thursday night football. You can watch it on prime video, but check out the NFL network coverage all night that Connie anchors the Ravens are coming off a crushing loss of their own we mentioned it the Browns knocked them off in stunning fashion

so if you're the bangles like are you does that make you more nervous or does that make you more confident thinking man this team does seem to find a way to lose every once in a while I just think that it's this game is our Thursday night Super Bowl we have had so many games that you really, I've worked so hard to sell.

And you know what the next prime game is though? It's Seahawks Cowboys. So that's actually a pretty good one too. Not as good as this, but it's a good one. We needed a double paler cleanser after last Thursday. Last Thursday, the international game, Monday night, all of them. So, but this is the stakes are through the absolute roof. It's the most competitive right now, toughest division in the NFL with Deshawn Watson going down.

That sort of changes. but it's still super competitive and such a tight race. They're both Super Bowl contenders. They're both coming off of losses. It's two musty quarterbacks. Both teams considered probably among the best in the league still, even with the Bengals struggles. So the offensive coordinator for Cincinnati, Brian Callahan,

he said that this already feels like a playoff game in November. And it really, really does. There's so many different ways you could go with this. Joe Burrow, the two interceptions that he had against Houston, were so unburrow-like because he never usually throws an interception that late in games. And he never, he's really careful with picks in the end zone. It usually never happens. So the overthrow to Drew Sample, there was the easy interception in the end zone while he was

scrambling around. But the only other he had, let's see, he threw the one interception all of last season in the red zone. And the two that he had this year, the first one came against ball. Baltimore in week two. So these teams, obviously, they play each other so close because they know each other so well. I have a whole Tyler Boyd thing I want to get into, but I'm so excited for the game. We're still building to the Boyd thing.

We are coming. It may never even arrive. We're just going to keep teasing it forever. I think the Ravens are a matchup problem for these Bengals. And I think last year really pointed it out that the Bengals needed a defensive score to win that playoff game with Tyler Huntley. in the mix. Even if you remember that week 18 game where they played against each other, it's nip and tuck. I think did the Ravens get them once last year? I'm forgetting. But they, I think, do well because up front, the Bengals, when I watched them last week,

it's like the offensive line's still a problem. It's like all this investment that you've had. And they really lost that game, I thought, last week, up front on both sides of the ball, the Bengals did. To the Texans, which was pretty surprising. to me. And I think the Bengals play a defensive coordinator in Mike McDonald's who's so good at scrambling smart quarterbacks, which is exactly what Joe Burrow is in terms of changing the look, looking the same before the snap, and then after the snap changing it up. And yeah, I remembered right. It was a 1917 game in week five last week that. Initiative Greg. That Lamar, Lamar wasn't in that game, but the Ravens won that game. So I think it's been a tough matchup. And I think part of it is

a physicality like not to get all AFC Northy but who's tougher like who's bigger and stronger and I think I trust the Ravens a little more on that front on both lines and I wanted to uh this by the way get ready okay are you ready just like be ready because it's coming

it's coming okay um I want talked about I flirted with uh you know getting staying on the bangles train here with the locks competition but I was T. Higgins is going to miss another week okay so Higgins is out chase is he was very productive but banged up going into sundays game and now he's got a short week

against one of the most physical teams in the league it's a bad setup and then you have the yes tyler boyd of it all who as i mentioned had a killer drop that might could ruin their season you never know uh in and sundays lost they need him to step up and be that guy and i guess i'm a little shook because he certainly wasn't that guy on sunday okay Tyler boyd yes wait stay right there no oh my god this it was a bad mistake the drop no doubt would have won the game maybe but let's just talk about here that boyd has two drops over the past two seasons in this game he caught eight passes he was responsible for five first downs with those passes he set them up for that 64 yard catch and run they wouldn't have even been in that spot for him to drop the ball

without that play that he made. So, like, everyone with all of these takes and all of the criticism that's going towards them, towards him, I just don't think it's totally fair. If he could run 21 miles per hour, he would have scored on that 65-yarder. And G.S. He hasn't been on the same page at times with Burrow this year.

He's definitely having his worst season with the Bengals. He's in a contract year. Higgins has been in a contract year. So I think there's just, like, it hasn't been clicking totally. But you're right. He had a good game before that, and he's been getting better each. week and Marlon Humphrey is doubtful for this game.

So the Ravens who like finally got healthier again with all their guys, then they lose Ronnie Stanley. He's out this week. Their left tackle. And so I think it's Patrick McCari steps in. They've been good. There's Trey Hendrickson's health. He was banging.

Trey Hendrickson practice this week. I think he's listed as questionable. But that's actually a little surprising how optimistic. And they could be without Sam Hubbard. Right. So there are a lot of injury issues for both teams. you would kind of expect that at this point in the season but it's unfortunate you lose the game

you lose players but I see something building here what is it happening wait a second I just flash back to on the NFL plus ATN game of the week joint the super salty

like wildly upset and annoyed Joe Burrow press conference after the game can we play a little clip of that it's probably more fresh rain loss is you bad yeah I would say that why is it so fresh

I mean, you watch the game. Does it feel different at this point this year with how just close everything is in the division and the AFC right now in terms of the margin for air? Yeah, we would like to win this one, that's for sure. I believe in Joe Burrow. Oh. And I understand the Bengals have let me down in this Picks competition this year, and I am way back. But at what point, what do I have to lose? Like, if I can get behind an angry, annoyed, pissed off Joe Burrow, which is what you just listen?

to, um, there is no way Joe Burrow gets beat in this prime time stage. In fact, he is going to light up the Ravens and I'm going to lock it up. Oh, what? Burrow is one of one. He's one of those dudes. He's one of those special players that has the, not just the ability, but the charisma and the guy that gets bigger in the big moments. And this is a huge moment for this team that cannot afford to lose. And Greg, I know it's, it's kind of, you know, the type of talk that hardcore, football heads and Adelix people hate, but the Ravens could survive a loss. They're seven and three right now.

The Bengals, they might not be able to. They need this game more than Baltimore. Caged animal. I believe in that. I do believe there is something, too, which team needs it more makes a difference in a long regular season. It's why I think a lot of times you see really good teams respond really well after a couple loss.

Yeah, but then people always come back to, oh, so I guess the Ravens will be trying harder on Thursday. Well, shut up. Shut up. Who's the people? I'm the people. But I think on a global level, like you see that. The problem is both teams are coming off brutal losses. So I don't know if that equals it out a little bit. Because the Ravens had no business losing that thing.

And this would be a big loss for them too. I love that you point out the division schedule that their Bengals are 0 and 2. This would put them at 0 and 3 in the division 1 and 5 in the conference. But you know what? The Ravens have lost two division games too because they blew that one against the Browns and the Steelers. So they would be 2 and 3 with only one left. And it is so big for both teams. To me, we kind of said, all right, this is a show me something game last week about Deshaun Watson.

And obviously the Ravens' offense and Lamar have accomplished a lot more. They're going to go somewhere this year. I'm with you. These are two of the three best teams, I think, in the conference. And yet the loser is going to be in a tough way here. But I'm a little bit at the show me something with the cohesion of the Ravens passing attack in a spot where you're going against a Bengals secondary that, has been giving up a lot of big plays this season. Even during their winning streak,

they were giving up a lot of explosive plays. And Lamar's been very good, but they haven't been in sync. They've been streaky. Like, guys are open. He missed a couple deep shots that could have put the Browns away last week. Sometimes you don't know what Bateman

or Beckham's going to do or it doesn't seem like Lamar knows what they're going to do. Like, this, to me, is a really big game for Lamar and those wide receivers. You've had 10 weeks now to get some cohesion. and that's the one thing that holds me back. It's not them blowing these leads. It's like,

are they going to be a good enough explosive passing game? Do it against this Bengals defense, which really hasn't been that great. All right. Let's move to Sunday night football. That's a great Thursday game. Connie, really do the damn thing. I can't wait.

On the network and the live setting, we're all going to be watching. Also, give me some more Keaton Mitchell in this game. I don't need any five touches. A little bit more. Every time it balls in his hand, he's electric, baby. All right, here we go.

The Vikings. They are the team of, around the NFL. How about that? And I watched a clip from inside the NFL of Kevin O'Connell, who I really like, talking about

the red zone call that led to the Dobbs Scramble and the touchdown. And as he's watching Dobbs Scramble, he just kind of like puts his hands up and like shaking his head like, oh, okay. Like, okay, this is, I have a quarterback can do this. And that was interesting. And this could be fun. And yes, that's why they're the team of ATN. They could be fun. And I love Justin Jefferson to be back playing with him. Is it happening yet, Greg? I don't know. I don't. It's trending. No, but it's also trending

towards it's a matter of weeks, not months or anything. So from one and four to six and four in good playoff positioning. And now they get a Broncos team, Colleen, that is, uh, really has put it together. Greg, I thought you put it well on the Monday show, Monday night podcast, that they are now at the stage where they've been with the exception, the notable exception of that Dolphins game. They're in every game. And they're going to continue to be in every game. And the Vikings are chemically addicted to being in close games. So I think we have a very high chance of this being a game that goes down to the wire. Hopefully the team of ATN comes out on top. But I think we have a good one here too as well. A couple weeks ago, this game did not look good. I gave them a great. not flexing out this game and you know what a couple weeks later it looks pretty pretty good and now the the broncos are they legit like of course the one in five start with the dolphin stink on them kind of left uh everyone thinking that they would not go anywhere this season but the back-to-back wins against the chiefs and the bills they're one game out of the final wildcard spot in the a fc the defense those four turnovers a lot of that was on josh allen though

like they had five turnovers the week before oh yeah that's right so this This defense is opportunistic. Right now they are. Justin Simmons, he has the most, first of all, he's been consistent over his entire career. He is the most interception since coming into the league in 2016 with 30 of them. But it's just this team looks different. And Russell Wilson was quietly having, I think now after the prime time game, people realize that he looks better than he did last year. But he was definitely having a more effective season and no one was really talking about it.

that would have been a good you people, what you people don't realize. But I do look at this game and wonder when Justin Jefferson is going to return for the Vikings, if this is going to be the first game. They're sounding very cautious where it makes it sound like it won't be this week. Then next week, maybe it could be a week. But if Josh Dobbs is making it work without him, then don't rush it back. They have the longest active win streak in the NFL at five games. So keep it going.

I wonder when Russell Wilson is allowed or, can he open it up a little bit more? Because I don't think they're going to get to the playoffs unless they can do a little more. Like his average depth of target in these games are crazy. Like I think he only attempted three throws last week over five yards or over 10 yards. And that's, it's been pretty similar to that. It's, it's all five to seven yard throws get like, is it open right away? If not check it down.

And it's like it's been effective, but can you keep winning that way against this Flores Blitz, which is just not a fluke anymore. It's happening. Week after week. They're a top 10 defense. It's amazing. Josh Mattelis, the way they use their safeties and linebackers and they're just sending different people, it's going to put a lot

of stress on Sean Payton in the offensive line and Russell Wilson to recognize where the pressure's coming from. And I think the best way to beat it is to run through them and they can do that, Denver. But also to take some shots down the field. And we haven't seen enough of that from Russ. Yeah.

They believe they have that award now, coordinator of the year. Like Brian Flores has to be. I think he's a favorite in consideration or a favorite because no one was expecting. The idea was that the Vikings would be better this year. They were arguably the worst defense in the league last year, certainly the worst of the playoff teams. And now they're winning games with the help for the defense.

I think on the Wilson point, and this is why, again, you can't just judge everything on stats because, yes, he is kind of a checkdown master. And it's not the same old. Remember our old producer TD, you know, Russell Wilson throws a sexy deep ball. He was so fun to watch us thrown those bombs to, who was it back then? Doug Baldwin.

Who else was Block it? Locked on a locket man. Germain curse. Germain curse, uh, win in the NSC title game on the bomb to curse against, uh, the Packers. Um, that's, that guy isn't really around as much anymore. But you look at us, I just like, look at his numbers are really good. Like here is his projected statistics for the end of the season right now. Uh, he has a.

68% completion percentage 3,400 yards, which is speaks to like a lot of checkdowns. That is not a lot of yards, especially in the modern game averaging, uh, about seven yards per attempt on pace for 34 touchdowns and eight picks and he has a 104 passer rating, which is very good. His QBR is 52 and a half, which is like middle of the pack. So some of that stuff, he's not an elite dominant player anymore. It takes a lot of sacks still takes a lot of sacks, but he is more athletic than he was a year ago. And he did lose a bunch of weight and you could see it. it's just been an interesting season for him.

And you've got to give credit to Peyton and his scheme. But also to Wilson, who could have went in the tank after last year and hasn't. Well, I went to look to QBR now. You know, they isolate rushing value. And that's,

quarterbacks that can run tend to do well in QBR. And Dobbs now is the number one rushing quarterback by a decent margin this year in terms of rushing value. It doesn't surprise me. I mean, he is adding huge value. But you know who's seventh, which is a nice uptick,

is Russell Wilson. And that doesn't shock me because each game, there's about three plays where he runs for eight yards on third and six. And those are, those are just massively valuable plays. And he has added that back to the mix this year. Keep an eye on Ty Chandler. Box scores, you know, the box score didn't look great last week. But he added some juice to that backfield for Minnesota. A couple of his runs got called back because of a penalty.

And he's a nice little fantasy pickup. Let's see if we can get some more Thai Chandler. Last night, I went down this rabbit hole on Jordan Hicks, because he, after the game, had to have... Initiative Connie. Emergency surgery because of compartment syndrome in his leg. I didn't realize all of the things that go into compartment syndrome, but it sounds very scary because he had come back.

He crashed into his own teammate in the first quarter of that game. And then he came back and played 23 more snaps, finally left again in the third quarter. And then after the game, he had such swelling in his leg that they got him to the hospital, immediately. And compartment syndrome, it's like when the swelling reaches dangerous levels, it can cause permanent muscle damage because it restricts the blood flow to the muscles.

So you can end up with like gangrene essentially. Gross. So that's just a little. Good data point. Fun fact for you. That and the glenoid. You're all over the place. Connie MD over here.

Well, I did want to be a neonatologist when I was little. Your sister is a nurse, you know. it's all happening. It's looking to that Cleveland statement again and see if Colleen slipped in there with some of her medical background. And bad job by us, Greg. The one thing that we didn't give enough pop to,

both to Wilson, but mostly to Cortland Sutton, was his touchdown catch on fourth and two. Oh my God. NFL's next gen stats gave that play a 3.2% chance of completion, making it the play with the lowest probability of completion since next gen stats has tracked the metric. In other words, that is the greatest catch ever in terms of completion.

That's part of it. In greatest completion, most difficult completion in the history of that stat, which I think goes back to about 15 or so. I could be wrong. I think someone said the two point conversion Wilson had to lock it in the NFC championship was the second most. And those two plays were like the exact same. And it was an incredible effort by Russell Wilson to get free.

to make that throw and an even better catch, but like, yeah, that's one of the best plays, just pure plays by two guys. Impossible. That we've seen impossible. It's so funny that you brought up Russ to Tyler Lockett because when I saw the Cortland Sutton touchdown, that's immediately who I thought of because those two

had so many connections where it was like, are you kidding me in the corner of the end zone? Or are you kidding me? Yeah. Ow! Nice. All right. Finally, Monday night football,

uh, the Philadelphia Eagles traveling to Arrowhead. to face the Kansas City Chiefs. Ooh, saucy. That he likes a spicy pepper. And here we have the Eagles. And Connie, eight and one. First place coming off a bye.

Correct? Both teams coming off a bye. Chiefs coming off a by having a chance to Andy Reid after the bye. And you know better than anyone that Reid is dominant in his career after the by even before Patrick Mahomes, but now he has Mahomes. The question I'm going to have, Gregie, as I look ahead to this game, because I am, I did my, my spiel about, there are no good teams in the AFC.

That is if the chiefs don't figure it out. And I still do think they figure it out. And I would love and I can't wait to watch the Kansas City Chiefs at the midway point after a couple of weeks to figure some things out. What do we see from this offense? How might it look different? Will it look different at all? We shall see. 28 and 4 is the ridiculous.

Read. Initiative. Record. What is it? 28 and 4. Great. It's one in my notes. Totally stupid.

I love this. Are you just on the show for data mining for your other programs you do? That's what I do here. Go ahead, Greg. I actually heard, I think it was Bo Wolf and Zach Berman who are doing a podcast for, I think, Philly. Now I forget. P-H-L-Y, like it's their own thing, it birds with friends. It used to be called, but P-H-L-Y.

And they said that Nick Siriani had actually called Andy Reid in the past to ask him what he does during his bye week. And I think like he like stayed. It was part of it. I don't even know. I just take a break. He went and stayed at like the same hotel that Andy Reid would stay at for vacation or something. Like it was totally preposterous. I want to see.

Hold on. Let me write that down. I got to just get into that. I'm going to like retell someone else's story. I need to be buttoned down. That's on me. The Eagles running game I think needs. to be better.

Like, they, they've been hoping, oh, when Sue Opetta comes back, you know, we'll have our offensive line back together and we'll be able to run the ball better. It's like, if you're running game is, Sue Opetta is really the difference in it, and it has a line with him being gone, but he's like their fifth best offensive line. I think there's something else going on. And even though Jalen Hertz is playing really well and almost as good as any quarterback in the league, I would say, after the first three or four weeks, I think defenses are getting a beat on the Eagles running game.

and really building up to stop their running game. And I do think the chiefs are uniquely suited with their secondary and Steve Spagnola to slow down the passing attack. I think you want to be able to run against Kansas City. So that's like the number one thing I'm looking at. Are we getting those five, seven-yard runs from DeAndre Swift? Because they really haven't been there. And they don't make as much sense without him or without hurts, you know, in the running game.

I'm looking at how the Eagles offense adjusts without Dallas Goddard, because he fractured his forearm in the game against Dallas. Right. they lost him for five games last season. They were still able to put up a ton of points in those games. So they were able to mix things up on offense just to get by. But there's only two healthy options at this point at the tight end position, Jack Stoll and Albert O.

Grant Calcutara, he has a concussion, not sure when he's going to return. But Goddard's a big part of that offense and what makes it work. I do love the fact that they had a buy week because Jalen Hertz, limping in that game when he got up. He's very slow to get up. I think that there's something more going on with him that they're just not letting on the Eagles. So he's someone to watch.

Also, they might get Cam Juergens back, their right guard. He missed five games with a foot injury. And his practice window opened right before the Dallas game. But I think his injury, along with Jalen Hertz, just not looking right, is what's been affecting the run game that you talk about, Greg. like Philadelphia Inquirer's own, Marcus Hayes, he actually put out the stat that in the first three games for the Eagles, they were averaging 4.9 yards per carry and 185 rushing yards per game.

And then the next six, when Cam was hurt, Juergens, they were averaging 3.4 yards per carry and just 101 yards rushing per game. So it definitely dropped off. That's who I said Sue Opeta. I wasn't sure what you were talking about there. Well, because he missed a couple weeks too, but he's a return. So that was a big old brain fart and a big L for... I got initiative Greg on here.

Rosie over here. Hang in there, bud. You're overextending yourself. You've done great work all show. Don't let that mar it. Don't think about just that. Any other thoughts on this game? I want to see if the Chiefs are going to blit,

like they are a really effective blitz team. Like they, by the numbers, they are the most effective in terms of how they prevent success rate and create big plays. they've just been dynamite. It's pretty risky to do against this offensive line against these wide receivers. So that's a great coaching matchup

because it's tough to get at Jalen Hertz. And if you're blitzing, then suddenly A.J. Brown and Devante Smith are in one-on-one matchups. And on the flip side, like Patrick Mahomes has been protected well all year. Like, let's get some people open. We've had this bi-week.

Rishie Rice up the middle of the field. Like, are we going to see... You kind of said it, Dan, like after two weeks. Are we going to see them look a little? little more like the Chiefs. I think to what I was talking about with the Eagles secondary before, there should be opportunities if you can block the Eagles to have open receivers. If they can't do it this week, you start to get worried. Because Travis Kelsey is coming off a game against the Dolphins in Frankfurt where they limited him. He was not involved in the offense. And Patrick

Mahomes, he did connect with a lot of other pass catchers and made it work, but it was really the defense that ended up winning that game. And you have so much going into this game. The stakes and this one are also so high. Two teams of the best records, both coming off by. Both quarterbacks are leading the MVP discussion. It's at Arrowhead. The Kelsey's are playing each other. You know, I mean, I guess Taylor Swift won't be there because she's on tour right now, but there's going to be a lot of Donna Kelsey pop as well. How much did, you know, Joe and Troy throw their weight around to get this game? You know that the networks are fighting for this game. Maybe this was maybe the number one

draft pick. And then they're paying too much money for that booth for them not to have games. Troy shows up to the meeting and he just, he flexes his muscles. And they're substantial for a man whose age. One thing missing from Hertz that I'm wondering is going to show up in the second half is him being kind of a dynamic rushing guy. Yeah. He's averaging three and a half yards of carry. And that's down substantially. It was four and a half last year, five and a half his first two years.

And his rushes are actually down off pace from last year. You know, I think a lot of that is protecting him. But it would be nice to see that mix. It makes him almost impossible when he's really moving the ball with his legs. And my final note on the game, what you people don't realize, just to tie it all together. And I'm going to help you here is that Chief's tight end, Travis Kelsey, and Eagle Center, Jason Kelsey, are actually brothers. They're related. And so that's a little subplot for this game.

A lot of people don't realize that. Right. But it's like they're different, too. You know, they look different. And the personalities are quite different. And what a celebration of different body types because I believe that Jason Kelsey, that big bear of a man,

is recently named one of People Magazine's sexiest people. It's true. What are the odds that they asked Travis and he was like, no, but you should do my brother. It would be great. Jason was like, I'm not even the sexiest man of my family. It's like the old Elvis Gurbach. They wanted Travis and then they went to Eagles

headquarters by accident. And they're like, all right, just do the airy guy. Hey, you know what's sexy? Being a responsible family man. That's right. And like Dan Hansis, and myself. I'm building a fence this week, folks. I'm fixing a sink.

I got a wrap wrench. Hell yeah. Greg. I'm making that bread, you know. All right. Paying that rent. Connie, you've said it all. I have.

As you always do. Check her out. on NFL Network. I'll be there. So many, so many songs. And we will be back on Thursday with our full week 11 preview. This is amazing. Until then, Heath the call.

Turn this up in my headphones. I'm going to flare this in the parking lot. I feel like I'm really high Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Miami. All right, love you. Bye.